Dede Watson is a social media consultant and strategist who owns and operates Turn It Social a social media marketing company. She is a top social media influencer and a Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer. In this episode, I chat with Dede and learn how she went from selling furniture to social media consultant, strategist, and Forbes power influencer.

We talk about how filling a need and getting asked for help is one of the best ways to build and grow a business. We talk about the importance of stepping outside of your comfort zone, what makes a successful entrepreneur, and how to get started promoting a business with social media. Dede shares tips, tricks, and some of her favorite tools and apps for video. We talk about Facebook advertising, how social media is evolving, and more.

Show Notes

[03:20] Dede started selling furniture in Daytona Beach. After about 10 years, she was burned out. She started looking online for different opportunities.

[03:48] It took her about five years to actually develop her own business. She started building websites and realized she needed to understand how to promote them.

[04:14] At the time, social media was new and she wanted to do some creative advertising.

[04:27] She began promoting herself on MySpace and then moved to Twitter. People started asking her about her social media services around the same time that she realized she enjoyed social media.

[05:08] She began her social media career on Twitter.

[05:36] People coming to you and asking for help is one of the best ways to grow and build a business. Her business didn’t happen overnight, it took about three years.

[07:02] You need to have a plan and money saved when venturing out into entrepreneurship.

[08:29] Normally Dede prefers to be behind the computer. She is stepping out of her comfort zone by promoting her own brand.

[10:08] Being hypercritical can hold you back and make you miss your window of opportunity.

[12:34] Entrepreneurs need structure and discipline.

[15:00] In the past, Dede never thought she could accomplish what she has. She learned that she can be a successful business woman.

[16:40] Dede is also enjoying consulting and mentoring people. She gets satisfaction from seeing the results of helping people.

[18:32] As she changes her business model to consulting, scaling is her biggest challenge. Facebook is making it challenging for small and midsize businesses to market with advertising.

[20:15] Making connections through Twitter is still a tried-and-true method. Instagram also has a large reach. You can do free advertising just by building communities.

[23:14] Dede was intimidated by using computers. She still isn’t extremely tech savvy. She delegates what she can’t do.

[25:47] Dede is a hands on learner who has to see and hear it.

[27:17] She wakes up and starts posting from her phone.

[27:47] She is trying to change course and not make her phone the first thing she does in the morning and the last thing she does in the evening.

[29:52] Deirdre carves out time to be on social media, so she’s not doing it all the time.

[30:42] Every platform is different and automatic posting doesn’t look natural.

[31:43] You have to be strategic in your posting and micro-target on your business page or account. On Instagram, you can post up to 30 hashtags.

[33:12] If you type in your tag on the explore page, you will see related tags. Curate your tags with ones that have been used between 5000 and 500,000 times.

[35:13] Don’t reuse all of the same hashtags, or you will be shadowbanned. Dede goes back later and edits her hashtags.

[37:03] IGTV is a way to find new viewers. Exercise and motivational videos do well. Create a nice story behind your video.

[40:07] It’s all about building an engaged community on social media. Spend some time, be authentic, and show that you care.